And now, for the main event, I'm turning the floor over to author C. Lee McKenzie as part of her blog tour for her latest release, Double Negative. She's here to talk about reducing stress for writers. Since I never, ever, feel any stress whatsoever, I—yeah, I can't even finish that sentence. Since I never, ever, feel anything but stress, I stand to learn a lot from this post.
Take it away, Lee!
Slow Down Writers
The scientific community can’t say with certainty that chronic stress causes life-threatening diseases. What they can say is people who are severely stressed are often tired and, therefore, less likely to exercise. Not healthy. Some come to rely on habits like overeating (strudel anyone?), drinking (where’s the wine?) and smoking (no temptation here, thank goodness) to “feel” more relaxed.
Anyone with a job, a mortgage, or a manuscript on submission knows how wrung out they feel at the end of a work week. I know I do. And I know how easy it is to say I’m too tired to do much of anything.
When I’m really under pressure here’s what I find helps me reduce the stress of life in general and the writing world in particular. These are things that get me up from my chair and moving. . .slowly, but surely.
Anyone who knows me can guess my first stress reducing strategy. I take a hike, then these other strategies are my back up. I cook something I really like to eat, and I do it from scratch. Spanakopita takes hours of chopping, and then there’s filo to deal with. At dinner, I light some candles and dim the overheads. It’s a mandatory, “everyone-sits-at-the-table-and-talk night.”
No matter what time of year it is, I plant some seeds. If I’m totally on my type A trip, I plant green beans. They grow almost overnight. Once I bought a fountain pen and wrote a letter with it. It’s still around here somewhere in case I need it. Of course, I leave the computer, cell phone and iPad off for at least a half hour—Well, fifteen minutes. Four? And finally, or maybe during all of this, I concentrate on my breath for a few minutes. No one can stress if they have to monitor their breathing.
Here’s to a happy and healthy writing for the rest of 2014.
by C. Lee McKenzie
Release date: July 25, 2014
Hutchison McQueen is a sixteen-year-old smart kid who screws up regularly. He’s a member of Larkston High’s loser clique, the boy who’s on his way to nowhere—unless juvenile hall counts as a destination. He squeaks through classes with his talent for eavesdropping and memorizing what he hears. When that doesn’t work, he goes to Fat Nyla, the one some mean girls are out to get and a person who’s in on his secret—he can barely read.
And then Maggie happens. For twenty-five years she’s saved boys from their own bad choices. But she may not have time to save Hutch. Alzheimer’s disease is steadily stealing her keen mind.